Savor the Success - Business Network for women entrepreneurs

The Office Christmas Party (I'm in the blue dress). Don't ask.

As you can see in the picture above, these last days before Christmas have been a bit hectic. But I've finally found a chunk of time to celebrate with all of you.

I DID IT! I REACHED MY GOAL! I RE-LAUNCHED SARAHCENTRIC!!

I made an error two STS blogs ago when I said this goal had taken me 9 months. Hello?! I started blogging here in August! That means I re-designed my blog and tripled my readership in only 5 months! I'm really just blown away by how much has happened in such a short time. I wrote my very first Sarahcentric blog 10 months ago. But it wasn't until I began listing my goals and following up with all of you here at STS that anything really happend. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for your support and encouragement along the way. But let's hold off on the tearful goodbyes and look at my original goals.

1) "..Instead of completely shutting down when someone says anything slightly nerdy like, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social networking or blog sharing, I will jump headfirst into all of this mess..."

Well, I cetainly did that. I have 500 followers on Twitter, many of whom have become regular readers, commenters and fans of Sarahcentric. There was the awesome shout-out and guest blog spot from one of my favorite bestselling authors, Susan Piver. I have a new Facebook fan page to get some presence over there. . I hosted my first blog giveaway which brought a ton of traffic. And when you google my name I show up on the first search page. I've even been the number two Sarah Jackson on the list! I'm officially a social media fanatic.

2) "I've hired a graphic designer and web developer to develop a custom template that I could use on wordpress to give my blog a personalized edge."

Yay!! Well you can head over to see that for yoursef. So much blue, red, pieces of paper and loveliness! There was some technical mess and confusion right before the launch which made me question if this was all worth it. But the feedback from my friends, colleagues and strangers has been overwhelmingly positive.

3) "I'm taking all of the time and effort that Sarahcentric demands, and seeing how far it can take me in the real world of freelance magazine and ezine writing. During this time I will also be working on my first book proposal in the hopes that a fully developed and fun blog site will make me that much more attractive to literary agents and publishers."

I am officially writing a book. There are crappy rough drafts and outlines all over my computer. This would not have happened if I didn't get into the regular practice of writing for Sarahcentric. In fact, a publisher friend of a friend recently checked my blog out and said, "She's good. Do you think she has a book in her?" God, I hope so!! I still haven't gotten around to submitting to magazines, (bad Sarah!). But my blog and Twitter relationships has also brought some connections with people who said they would be willing to help. You know...when I actually submit!!

So here we are...the end.

The end? I guess.

Yeah whatever, I reached my one goal..and I am thrilled. But it's kind of a like a Pandora's box isn't it? The more I write, the more I WANT to write. The more people who discover my site, the more I want to discover other sites and learn from them. The more I put out in the world, the more I want to put out! It's all constantly changing and evolving. Goals are wonderful and important, but it's the self-investigation along the way that I find so amazing. Who am I, really? What do I want to leave the world with when I'm no longer here? Whether you knew it or not, the past 5 months with all of you forced me to ask myself those important questions. Thank you for that. Thank you so very much.

The biggest thank you, however, goes to my friend Angela Jia Kim. I met Angela a year ago when my goal was far less specific,"I don't know...maybe I want to write or something, about my life..maybe, I don't know." Angela's support and wise advice got me to sign up for that first free wordpress blog. Then months later as I was headed to my shrink's office officially in a rut, I received Angela's email about her new site Savor the Success I was writing on my blog every two weeks or so but had no idea why, what or whom for. Angela's reappearance brought me to where I am right now.

So I may not be blogging here anymore. But God knows I can't be too far from Angela! I'll be bouncing around the forums and blogs looking for more inspiration, support and advice from all of you amazing people.

Again...

Thank you.